In a recent opinion piece published in The Washington Post, the president of Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania suggested that colleges demonstrate their commitment to improving graduation rates in order to receive federal education funding.

Although admissions factors have been the subject of intense debate between President Barack Obama and his administration, L. Jay Lemon wrote that in order to continue to receive federal funding, colleges should demonstrate the achievement of a series of minimum standards in areas such as graduation rates. He said that such measures could ultimately save tax dollars spent on education and increase long-term investment in higher education.

"Perhaps the time has come for the government to demand greater evidence that our institutions are built upon a business model that is not solely dependent or nearly so on federal student aid dollars," Lemon wrote in the article. "Perhaps the time has come for the government to demand a minimal expectation with regard to graduation rates."

Increasing the number of students successfully graduating from college has been a priority for President Barack Obama. According to ABC News, the president recently outlined plans to raise the graduation rate in the U.S. to 60 percent over the next 10 years.